Art in the Wild

Ben Buschke, Tree Carver Profile by Pete Gorski

Road America is sometimes called the National Park of Speed, since you’re never more than a few feet from a shady grove of trees framing a scenic view that just happens to have race cars rumbling past. After 70 years, some of these trees have come to the end of their lives. The obvious solution would be to cut them down, but Mike Kertscher and his Board of Directors at Road America decided to do something unique. 

According to Ben Buschke, a master tree carver from Buschke Carving in Manawa, WI, “Mike Kertscher called me. He explained they had a lot of dead trees and wanted to do something other than just cut them down.”

The 34-year-old, self-taught artist spent time working on the family farm before switching paths in 2016. “This will be my third year carving full time,” says Buschke. “I first tried it out of curiosity. There was a lot of trial and error, but I learned something new every time I did it.

“Drawing always came easy to me, and I like doing things like carpentry and welding, as well. Building and creating things is something I always loved to do, so I guess carving is kind of mixing it all together!

“Mike showed me the trees they were thinking of having carved. The subject for the carvings was up to me, but I sent different ideas to Road America and they looked them over. We agreed on either race or animal-themed designs.”

Buschke has created multiple works—a Road America logo, a quartet of bears peeking out of a trunk, a full-body standing bear waving a Checkered flag, a vintage gas pump, a flock of owls and a bald eagle clutching the Stars and Stripes. 

“For most of the carving, I use chainsaws for about 95 percent,” says Buschke. “For some of the finishing work, I use power tools like angle grinders, die grinders and Dremel tools.

“Carving the eagle with the flag took the longest because the tree was so tall,” explains Buschke. “I had to cut it down to about 8 feet to find a solid area to make the carving. The other pieces each took a couple of days. I’d do the chainsaw work on one carving, then hop over to another carving to do the finishing work for the rest of the day.”

 “My favorite piece is probably the eagle with the flag because of its location right next to the track. The eagle is also the only piece you can see on a TV broadcast—about 30 yards past the exit of Canada Corner on the right.”

Based on the fan response and other dead trees around the property, the Road America sculpture gallery has the potential to grow. 

“We are definitely looking into it for next year,” says Mike Kertscher.